Val Kilmer, star of “Top Gun,” “The Doors” and several other classic films, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to his family.
Val’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, told the New York Times — which first reported the death — her dad died of pneumonia. He had been diagnosed with a throat tumor back in 2014, and had to be rushed to UCLA Medical Center in 2015 to treat severe bleeding in his throat. The tumor was the result of oral cancer.
Val famously played the lead role of rock star Jim Morrison in the film about The Doors, and also starred as Bruce Wayne in “Batman Forever.”
One of his most beloved roles was at Iceman in “Top Gun” … a character he managed to reprise in the 2022 sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick” despite his health challenges at the time.
The filmmakers used AI to recreate Val’s voice, which he’d lost at that point, due to the throat cancer.
The cancer eventually went into remission — his daughter told NYT he’d fully recovered — and Val, a devout Christian Scientist, attributed that directly to his faith. He had reportedly rejected many forms of modern Western medicine.
Val told The Christian Post in 2017, “Many, many people have been healed by prayer throughout recorded history. And many, many people have died by whatever was modern medicine.”
The L.A. born and raised actor was just as well known for his outstanding supporting roles in movies like “Heat,” “True Romance” and “Tombstone” … in which he played Doc Holliday. You can just hear him delivering the classic line, “I’m your huckleberry.”
Val got into the prestigious Juilliard School of acting when he was just 17, and after graduating did a lot of theater … including playing Hamlet. His eventual breakout film role came in the 1985 teen comedy, “Real Genius.”
Val is survived by his 2 adult children, Mercedes and Jack, who he had with his ex-wife, actress Joanne Whalley.
He was 65.
RIP
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